Videos are making a lot of noise in the business industry. YouTube is the second most popular social media site in the world right now and there’s a good reason why. People like videos and they want more. In a time where everyone wants everything done in record time, video content fits snugly into the fast-paced lives of most of the people you’re trying to reach.

Influencer marketing is the fastest growing customer acquisition method on the market right now and for good reason. In this technological age, we live in and social media playing the big role that it does, there are more and more people with a large online presence.

There seems to be a common misconception about public relations and marketing. Some say one is more important than the other. So you get great marketing and not so great pr. Or, there might be good communication and less consistent marketing. Both cases have happened and both cases should be avoided.

Let's face it. No matter what your business, corporation or organization is, you need to have good public relations and marketing. It's easy to tell you to do your research and use them to your advantage to make sure your brand makes a positive impact on your target audience. Sure, I could tell you that, and leave you to discover what the best ways to do that would be. The business world can be a lot like the Hunger Games. You do your best to find your way but the statistics show the majority of small businesses don't make it. But our job at Leading Lady is to help you win the Games, and I'm about to give you the top five of tools you need to help you come out on top.

Anyone who has kids knows the power of a toy commercial. Once a kid sees what they really want, they don't stop until they get it. This is why a lot of the marketing for children’s products is tailored right to the children. It makes sense. Make the kid want it enough to bug mom and dad until they fork up the money. This works with more than just toys, too. In many households, kids are at the forefront of a lot of family decisions, including where to eat, where to shop and where to go for family outings. If the baby’s unhappy, everyone is unhappy.

Generational trends are bound to change, and quickly. They are constantly fluctuating and PR needs to follow. In the coming years, we are going to see new and surely innovative trends, but they don't have to be a surprise. Past trends are a great way to predict future ones.

Erica wants to break the mold of traditional PR, which is why we consider ourselves The Millennial Firm. During our interview, I asked her to go into detail about what that meant. "I wanted to do something different. We don't typically go your normal way. Traditional PR strays away from things like Facebook Live or Instagram Live. I want to take that risk." Every successful business, no matter the size, has been built from the ground up by someone who was willing to take the proper risks and make the right choices.

Customer service is a cycle give and take a business and a consumer. Not only does that mean that there needs to be a certain level of transparency between the two, but also a level of loyalty. A happy customer is more likely to recommend a business to friend or family member, and even more likely to return. This in mind, there are many different things that can affect the customer’s satisfaction, which can make or break an industry.

Here’s a fun fact: every month roughly 550,000 people become an entrepreneur. You read that right. That’s hundreds of thousands of people a month starting their own business with hopes of being successful. Here’s a not so fun fact: 80% of entrepreneurs fail within the first 18 months. You know that one little building in your hometown that is always changing into a new business? One year it’s a bakery, the next year it’s a boutique and then, somehow it ends up becoming a mattress store. Sure, maybe I’m speaking from personal experience as a confused consumer but the point is, you don’t want to be one of those 8 out of 10.

When you’re starting a brand or business the most important things you need to do is create a conversation about your product or service. Those conversations help develop a good reputation, which brings in new customers and continue to impress loyal customers. There are two main ways to do this: public relations and marketing. It’s very easy to look at these two things as two separate entities but it’s just as easy to intertwine them. The truth is, while marketing and PR are often integrated into the same strategies their missions and goals are different.

It’s December. You know what that means (cue collective groan). It’s time for the Christmas take over. Now, I’m not a grinch, far from it, but Christmas has a time and a place. That time and place are not September. Or, October. It’s not exactly November either, but that battle was lost long ago.

Running a successful business in 2017 means winning over the largest generation that gets the most side-eye, the Millennials. A major misconception about Millennials is that we’re impatient. But the thing is, living as the generation that grew up with technology at their fingertips creates a certain mindset. We don’t have to send a letter we can text. We don’t have to go the bank it’s on our phones. The truth is we’ve grown accustomed to finding what we want at high speeds with our phones, laptops, and tablets we tend to keep on us at all times. This is good news for businesses because each of those screens provides a multitude of opportunities to reach consumers.

The Public Relations industry is steadily growing and changing, but one branch has stood out amongst the others as one of considerable growth as of late. This sector is, unsurprisingly, technology. According to the PRCA census of 2016, Tech PR is the leading candidate for growth in the coming years.

Knowing the background of a Public Relations client is critical to understanding their story. Understanding is half of the battle because next comes interpreting. Sometimes the path to comprehending a client’s account is through openness and research. Without transparency between the client and the Public Relations firm, there can be a difficulty in understanding the intended message.